He said that besides music, there were dances during the four-hour Norwuz ceremony in Tehran. This contradicts Sharia law.

President Ahmadinejad's hugging of Hugo Chavez's mother Elena Frias on March 9 was condemned by the Iranian religious establishment. Earlier, chairman of the community of religious teachers, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi said that Ahmadinejad's gesture is an action that was not appropriate for a president.